Well...I thought I should formally introduce myself since I haven't done that just yet.

I have stepped up to the role as Arkansas Coordinator. After my terrible experience with PE, I just knew that I had to do something. I had to help!

MY STORY

My blood pressure topped out at 240/120 and I gained over 125 pounds (mostly PE induced swelling). It's not pretty! My son was born at 32 weeks. I was admitted at 31.5 and hung on until 32. YIPPIE!

Dylan was born October 4, 2004 and weighed in at 4lbs 4oz. He was 18" long - his daddy is 6'4", so I am sure that attributed to his height!

This forum is a dream come true for myself and, as I am sure, for many other women. This forum is a success because of the women that devote so much time to helping people like us. I only hope that I can return that same care, love and devotion to others - like us.

Hello Arkansas! My name is Deidre and I am now officially a group coordinator for the state of Arkansas. I live in the northwest area of the state, so I'm also close to MO, KS, and OK.

I look forward to raising awareness for women in Arkansas, and hopefully we can work together to accomplish many goals set by the Preeclampsia foundation. The foundation helped me tremendously during my second pregnancy, and with out the support of the foundation I would have been lost, and scared with no were to turn.

My story is very similar to a lot of women here, and we are very fortunate to have a heathly son and daughter. Hunter was born at 32 weeks and weighed just 3 pounds 12 ounces. So my second pregnancy struck a deep panic in me and the foundation, supported, listened, and gave me courage I didn't know I had.

I am so lucky to have been given this opportunity, and I look forward to giving back a little of what was given to me.

I'm Amie, mommy to Alex. I was put into the hospital at 30 weeks and my labor was induced at 34 weeks. My son will be 6 this coming Monday. I'm pregnant with our second child. I'm 16 weeks along as of yesterday and hoping with all my might and crossing all my toes and fingers that I don't have pre-eclampsia, or at least not as severe, as with the first pregnancy.

I've been reading up on new findings for diagnosing pre-eclampsia - which is basically to check for decreased PIGF in urine. This time I'm seeing a high-risk pregnancy doctor at UAMS. I'm not thrilled with her bedside manner, but if she can save my and my baby's life, I'll deal with it! :-D

Dee Dee, I really liked what you said about finding the courage to have a second child. I'm still waiting for that. I try not to think about it because when I do I get very upset. Pre-eclampsia is so traumatic, especially if you have a doctor that just walks into your room and says that you've got to be admitted to the hospital and doesn't say why.

So - one more Arkansan here. I wish there were more of us. I'm excited to see that you both had girls after your boy - which is what I think I'm having this time - and that your PE was mild to non-existent. That gives me hope!

Hello ladies. I joined a while back, but this is the first time I've posted. My name is Amy and I live in NWA. I have twins (4 in May) and developed severe preeclampsia that went undiagnosed. A week after giving birth, I was back in the hospital with a bp of 170/100 ish. Anyway, after some Lacex and rest, I was fine. I got a copy of medical records which recorded PE, Pulmonary Edema, and Cardio Myopathy. I've been to two different cardiologists since and both have said everything looks fine. I'm now 25 weeks pregnant with our 3rd child and I'm scared. I've been taking better care of myself, excercising and diet and have only gained 11 lbs. so far. There's been no swelling, but a few instances of the flashing, floating spots. Can anyone tell me the chance you have of experiencing PE with a second pregnancy and maybe some questions I should ask my OB (which, by the way, is a totally different one this time!) Thank you so much and it's nice to meet all of you.

Hi ladies. It's nice to see that there are some people I can talk to about preeclampia. I have many friends with children, but known who had preeclampsia or problems related. My son will be 6 in April. He was born at 28 weeks via c-section. I was diagnosed with preeclampsia at 10 weeks and put on blood pressure meds. At 20 weeks I was put on full bed-rest. I went to the hospital 3 times due to my blood pressure numbers and on the 3rd time the doctor said we had to do the c-section b/c I had developed HELLP syndrome. At time of surgery, my blood pressure was 225/126. It was obviously a very scary experience and 3 months in the NICU followed. My husband and I would like to have 1 more child. We talked to my OB who was very supportive, but also went to a high risk OB at UAMS. He told me he thought I needed to lose the weight I would gain during the pregnancy beforehand and quit work! What advise have you been given about a 2nd pregnancy? I have never gotten to come off blood pressure meds totally and now my records say that I have chronic hypertension- my whole family does.